Summer Love
by xoCinnamonGirl
Summary: James was an arrogant prat, but something changed over the summer. Lily hated him, but things start to change once she gets to know him better. Now, the question is will things continue to be this good once they go back to Hogwarts?
1. A new start

It was a bright Sunday afternoon, and James Potter was fast asleep somewhere on the lush green lawns of the potter mansion. Tiny, bushy tailed white rabbits hopped around him as he slept, oblivious to his surroundings. His hair lay ruffled by the wind, his glasses slightly askew, his arm tucked under his head and his wand secured inside the band of his jeans. As he slept, he dreamt of a certain bright-eyed, red-haired girl named Lily whom he loved dearly but who wouldn't even date him in return. The red hair framing her face was blowing around in the wind as she stood smiling at him, on top of a terrace.

As if such serene thoughts were too good to last, a disturbance arrived in the form of Sirius Black.

"Wake up Prongs!" he said punching James lightly on the back.

James grunted in reply.

"Dude! Seriously wake up, we got a party to attend."

"Shut up you moronic dog, you just woke me up from the best dream of my life" said James.

"Up. Right now." said Sirius his eyes narrowing.

"Kay Kay, I'm up. So, where today?" questioned James.

"Well buddy, there's this hot pool party at Tanya's in a few hours and my presence is indispensable" stated Sirius.

"Tanya's party? Isn't she the one with a reputation for being an annoying slut?"

"Uh, Only according to you."

"You ditched her within a week last year."

"Only cuz she didn't seem to comprehend the fact that I needed to have my space. At least to breathe in between the kisses."

James grinned, shaking his head at his friends hopelessness.

"You know what I like best about rabbits?" said Sirius, staring at the white bundles hopping around the lawn.

"Nope, what?" asked James

"I love their life man. All they do is eat, screw and sleep."

"Sirius, mate if I didn't know better I'd probably try to change your perception of love and life"

"Glad you know better."

"Maybe padfoot, just maybe you'll find someone someday who'll change your outlook of life." sighed James.

"Whatever James. Personally, I think you should wake up and realise something yourself." said Sirius looking at James.

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that you have fantasies about a girl who is probably never even going to date you, forget marry." stated Sirius.

"I love her Sirius. I want her like nothing I've wanted my entire life. She's something different." sighed James.

"I know mate. I know." nodded Sirius.

They remained in deep thought for a few minutes until Sirius remembered once again that they had a party to attend.

"Forget it Prongs, wanna ditch the sorrow for something better?"

James nodded

"Then we got to head for the party." said Sirius

"You're right mate, but before that I need to pick my date" said James his eyes sparkling.

"Oh no." groaned Sirius," I don't think my stomach is gonna be able to take it if I have to endure another hour of you begging Lils."

"Chill. I have a plan." came the reply.

"Sure, sure." said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

Within the next ten minutes they managed to apparate to Lily's doorsteps.

"Well, this is it then." said James, taking a deep breath as he looked at Lily's front gate.

"Good Luck mate." said Sirius giveng him a marauder punch.

James pushed the gate open, walked up to the front door and rang the front bell. A lady of about forty-five opened the door and smiled at him. She had Lily's eyes.

"Yes, how may I help you?" she said.

"Er....I'm a friend of Lily's and I was wondering if I could talk to her." mumbled James, going red.

"Sure, come on in." she said, ushering James inside."She's upstairs in her room. First room on the left." she continued pointing towards the stairs.

"Thanks" said James smiling up at her.

He slowly walked up the stairs and turned to the left. The door was wide open and Lily was lying on the floor flat on her stomach, painting her nails. She was wearing a light blue tank top and shorts. She seemed to have acquired a slight tan during the summer. James couldn't help thinking about how pretty she looked.

"Hi Lily!" he smiled tentatively.

Lily looked up in surprise.

"James!" she exclaimed pulling herself up,"Wha...how...What are you doing here!?"

"I was just passing by-"

"Sure" she muttered

"-and I thought I'd ask you something." he smiled.

"What?" she said, her eyes narrowing.

"Do you wanna go to Tanya's party with me?" he asked.

"Huh? that pool party everyone has been talking about?"

"Yeah. That's the one.", "Please." he added as she wrinkled her forehead.

"Um. Okay, Sure." she said finally.

"Really? Wow, that's...thanks." said James smiling hugely,"I'll pick you up in about an hour, kay?"

"Perfect." she smiled.

Walking down the stairs, James felt happier then he had in a long time. Maybe, just maybe, he still had a shot at dating Lily.

A\N: Well, this is the first chapter!! plz review and tell me how it is!!!!!!!!!!!


	2. Hot Guys In Swimming Trunks

_Previously on Summer Love:_ James goes over to Lily's house and asks Lily to go to Tanya's pool party with him. He is pleasantly surprised when she says yes. Lily thinks about how James has matured from the brat he used to be.

2.

Lily smiled to herself as she ruffled through her clothes searching for something to wear. James had looked so nervous when he asked her to go to the party, probably due to the multiple times she had turned him down. It wasn't like she hated him or anything. Truthfully, she thought he was pretty hot. Sure, she had called him an arrogant toe rag multiple times over the past years but that was only because he used to bully Severus and act like such a prat around her. Towards the end of sixth year he had started to mature a bit. Yeah, the marauders still caused a lot of trouble but it was actually fun to watch the Slytherins get pranked. Once his head had deflated a bit she had started to notice his better traits, like how he had a very generous side to him and how he was always nice to her no matter what. He always stuck by his friends and frankly his Quidditch skills were simply amazing.

Finally, she found the dress she was looking for. It was a short, strappy light green number that complimented her eyes. She quickly slipped into the dress and zipped up. After dabbing on some light make-up and her favorite pink lip-gloss, she pulled her long, soft red tresses into a high pony and was about to head down when she heard the doorbell ring. She took one last sweeping look in the mirror and satisfied she stepped out of her room. She ran down the stairs to open the door.

"Hey James." she smiled at him.

"Wow, you look really pretty." he smiled back.

"You don't look bad yourself." she laughed, "So, shall we leave then?"

"Yeah." Said James as he apparated both of them to the party.

They had just arrived when they saw none other than Sirius Black walk up to them with a stunning girl in his arms.

"Hey James. Hey _Lily._" He said surprised, "frankly I didn't think you'd actually say yes to him. I thought he was bluffing."

Lily chuckled lightly, "Yeah well, it's not like he's an arrogant toe rag anymore, so I thought I'd give it a try."

Sirius wholf-whistled,"Good for you Prongs!"

"Enough about us Padfoot." Said James forcefully, "Who's your new friend?"

"This-" smirked Sirius, "is Isabella. She's Tanya's cousin from France and we were just making plans for _tonight"_

"Your friend here eez most charming" said Isabella blushing slightly.

"Why that I am." Winked Sirius, as he strolled away with Isabella.

"Sirius will always be Sirius huh?" asked Lily looking up at James.

"Until the end of time." Replied James.

"So, what have you been doing this summer?"

**James POV**

What I've been doing? Obviously I've been dreaming about her red hair, luscious lips, green eyes, soft skin-

"Y'know the usual. Sleep in, play Quidditch with Sirius, annoy the house elves…"

Lily raised her eyebrows "House elves huh?"

"It isn't a big deal. My parents are aurors and they often leave the house, so they have house elves to look after the place as well as me and Sirius."

"Lucky you. You don't have any sibling's right?"

"Nope. But I always wished I had an elder brother."

"Trust me when I say this cuz I say it from experience, it _**sucks **_to have siblings. All they do is annoy you to no end, get you in a hell lot of trouble and try their best to destroy your life."

She can be such a cute drama queen. "C'mon Lily, it can't be that bad."

Lily snorted. "Yeah sure, I'm amazingly lucky to have a sister who thinks I'm a freak and whose life's ambition is to torture me to death."

"Um….Okay, that's probably bad."

"Tell me about it." She said bitterly.

Note to self: she hates her sister or rather hates that her sister hates her.

"So, what have _you_ been up to?"

"Pretty much nothing cuz I have to live like a muggle during the Holidays. I met up with Anya, Trista and Zara a few times and they wish I could stay with them instead, but my mum insists that this is the only time I get to spend with my family. So for most of the part I've been acting like a regular muggle teenager. Sleeping in, going to the mall, meeting old friends, playing video games, watching TV…."

"Hey, a TV is like a box that shows moving pictures, right?"

Lily laughed. How he loved that tinkling sound.

"Yeah, almost like that."

"Don't you get bored staying away from your friends for so long?"

"A little." she admitted, "It wasn't so bad before when I had Sev, I mean Snape, but now..."

"Wait, what?"

She gave him an appraising sort of look. "Well I _used_ to hang out with him during the summer."

"No, you broke up with him? When?" Okay. I admit it. I never saw that coming. Last time I checked she was still reluctant to let go of him.

"It wasn't exactly a break up but I made it pretty clear to him that we weren't friends anymore. He made his choices in life, and well I told him I wouldn't watch him as he went down the dark path."

"Good for you Lily." he said sincerely.

"It was bound to happen."

"If you don't mind, Sirius and I would love to drop by once in a while."

"I'd love that." she grinned at him.

He felt a jolt in his stomach. She didn't mind if he came over. Wow. That was, well... something.

"James!", He heard a girlie, all too sweet voice call out.

"Tanya." he said in a resigned voice. Just like that bitch to come spoil his moment.

"You made it to the party."

He settled for a nod.

"Omigosh! Lily? You're with him?"

Did she _have_ to sound that surprised? I knew we weren't exactly best of buds (yet), but Lily and I had been pretty civil over the last term. In fact, all Lily's friends and the marauders frequently hanged out at the Gryffindor common room along with some Ravenclaw guys.

"Okay, seriously. Everyone has got to stop reacting like that. It's not like we _actually_ hated each other. We were friends last term."

She sounded pretty annoyed.

"Well maybe not so much last year, but before that, the marauders used to drive you crazy." said Tanya.

"Well they _were _immature and annoying, but I was always friends with Remus."

Now she sounded defensive.

"Whatever." replied Tanya, as she turned away. "Still weird."

"Don't bother about her. She's been acting like a bitch ever since I turned her down." I was worried how Lily would react.

She looked at me like she was amused.

"Breathe James. You don't really think I'd let her get to me."

"Yeah well."

**Lily and James POV**

They strolled along till they reached the pool. A few guys were lounging in a corner of the pool surrounded by a bunch of bikini clad girls from Ravenclaw. As the guys in swimming trunks came into better view, James recognized them to be Jay Patil, Liam Trent and Trey Stone, fellow seventh years from Ravenclaw.

Lily let out a low gasp as Liam waved at them. She waved back dizzily. Bloody Hell! She didn't known this gorgeous hunk that she had been crushing over for nearly two years now, would be here today! And that too in just a pair of swimming shorts with water droplets bouncing slowly down his glistening skin, making their way down to his-. Stop Lily! He's not going to notice you, so you might as well stop fantasizing about him. He's going out with the blonde Ravenclaw in the pool.

James looked curiously at Lily as she temporarily glazed out. Why was she staring at Trent? Oh god! No way she fancied _him_? Impossible. Lily would know better than that. Almost every girl the guy dated was a one night stand, for crying out loud. Okay, now her eyes were moving down to places I'd rather not have her think about. Time to get her back down to earth, aka _me._

"Lily, let's get some drinks."

No response.

"Lily!"

"What! Oh, okay let's go."

Throughout the rest of the party, no matter how hard Lily tried to focus, her mind kept slipping back to Liam. She could sense that James was getting a little annoyed by her concentration lapse but she couldn't help it. She was only human and only a teenage girl at that. In her defense, it wasn't like she was dating James or anything. He just asked her out to the party. He could have stopped liking her long ago for all she knew. She wasn't being unfair to him or anything. Plus, Liam had the body of a male model off the runway. _And _he had said she looked beautiful at a Quidditch party at the end of last year. But then again, he had been saying that to everyone who passed by seeing that he was drunk. She sighed. She was being stupid. She didn't really like him. He was just an eye candy. Nothing more. At least not for now.

**Later that night:**

"Prongs!" yelled Sirius as he sped on his broomstick across the Potter's twelve acre lawn. He changed his direction towards the towers above the west wing of the mansion as he failed to see his best friend anywhere on the grounds. As he hovered over the towers, he spotted the end of a Firebolt sticking out of the window of one of the towers.

He sighed. The stupid git was probably questioning himself sick over the reason for Lily's reaction on seeing Liam. Or he was just planning on pranking Liam (which would have been the more respectable thing for a marauder to do.) Either ways, it was time to stop. He had been very patient with James over the past few weeks, listening to his _feelings_ about Lily and what not. Right now, he wanted his best friend back. The guy who loved danger and risk.

He remembered how they had owned the town at night the first few weeks when Sirius had moved in. Every night they snuck out and flew their broomsticks over London, haunting muggle girls around pubs with their irresistible charm and sometimes meeting up with Remus, Peter and other seniors from Hogwarts. They would get drunk and then give each other outrageous dares and heaven forbid if they didn't complete them. On one such memorable night, they had driven motorbikes into an uptown marriage hall. Mr. Potter had to come to a muggle please-station to bail them out. They had framed the paper with the charges and hung it in Prongs' room. Often, they would pass Grimmauld place and any member of his family who was unfortunate enough to step out during that time would without doubt be pelted with a shower of dungbombs falling from invisible hands in the sky. There were only a few weeks of summer left and it was high time they got around to partying again.

"Prongs! Get your royal ass out here!"

"Shove off, Padfoot."

"And let you sulk like a loser? Not a chance in hell."

"I'm not sulking. I had a great time at the party. Lily was happy to see me. In fact, it was all perfect till Liam decided to erm…_distract_ her from me."

"Don't kid yourself. Liam didn't do a thing. Lily was the one who looked like a blind man seeing light for the first time when he waved at her."

"Lily's not like that. She's not like all those other girls out there. She has better sense than to be smitten with someone just by their looks. If it was like that, she would have fallen for me ages ago."

"Someone's being modest aren't they? Listen James, you're right. Lily has better sense and so do you. Can't you look past her moment of weakness? She's still a single girl right? Not a feeling less stone statue. She has every right to look at anyone she wants. She's not dating you James. She's not _you're_ girl yet. But once she is, I assure she will not find the need to look at anyone else. Until then, could you throw away the jealousy? Trust me; it doesn't go much with your looks."

James couldn't help but grin at his best mate's assessment. "Fine, I'll do that. Can't have anything marring my irresistible face now, can I?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. Truthfully, he was proud that James had actually found someone he cared about. That made one of them.

"A little patience James. Just get her to know you and that's all it's going to take."

James sighed. "I'm no Superman." **(A/N**: **Yeah. The Oh so familiar line from 'Scrubs')**

Lily Evans was sprawled on her bed, running her fingers through her hair as she thought of James. Merlin, the guy was so cute when he tried to figure out why she kept spacing out. She smiled to herself as she recalled his looks which had been anxious and a little suspicious and jealous at the same time. He was undeniably handsome; practically the whole school worshipped him. It was hard _not_ to like a hot guy who was popular, funny and well-mannered. But, he just didn't have the raw sex appeal that Liam possessed, the ability to stun a girl just by standing in the same room. On the other hand, Liam was a player with a reputation worse than that of Sirius. At least Sirius and James were kind to the girls they broke up with, this guy treated girls like his playthings. To him they were just toys used for pleasure. Despite all this, you couldn't say no to him, it was virtually impossible. Every girl knew that she would only be used by him, but all that didn't matter when he flirted with you and then asked you to go out with him. Two of her best friends had gone out with him at one point, and they had admitted that he made a girl feel amazing one second and like trash the next. Amazingly, if there was one thing that she trusted about James Potter, it was the fact that she _knew_ he would never intentionally hurt her. Despite all the times he had annoyed her, there was something about the guy that attracted her towards him. She just couldn't explain that pull.

"He's just special." She said to herself.

Just as she was about to pull the blanket over her head and try to get some sleep, she heard the sound of an owl scratching on her window. She jumped up and opened the window to let it in.

"Niko! What did Jake send you for at this time of the night?" she said in surprise.

Jake was one of her close friends from Ravenclaw. Like her, he too was muggle born. Anya, Lily's best friend in the world, was pretty good friends with him too. He was a talented artist and the three spent a lot of time together at Hogwarts. This did not go too well with her other friends. Zara didn't mind too much but Trista practically hated Jake. This wasn't to say that Jake didn't reciprocate the feeling. He thought Trista was a self-centered bitch. Lily couldn't exactly blame him for coming to this conclusion. Jake's roommate Micheal was Trista's long term boyfriend. The two were crazy about each other and Trista was very overprotective about the love-of-her-life. She thought Jake was extremely annoying and that he tagged onto Michael too much. It wasn't as though Jake and Michael had any choice. Their other roommates were always caught up in their own world of sex and booze. The only people they had for guy time were each other and sometimes the marauders.

She opened the letter tied to Niko's foot.

_Hey Lils, _

_It's been over a week since we saw each other so I came over to your house earlier this morning, and your mom told me you had gone out with James to Tanya's party. So, he asked you out again, huh? How come you said yes to him? Just curious. Anyway, tell me if you have any plans tomorrow, okay? Trista and I could probably come over and we could hang out for a while. Reply soon so I can tell Trista as well._

_Jake._

Great. Now Jake knew she had gone out with James. To an outsider reading the letter, his question about James would have sounded rhetorical, but Lily knew better. Jake had asked her out last year but she had politely turned him down saying she liked him a lot as a friend but that dating really wasn't her thing. Truthfully, she didn't think of him that way at all. He had said that it was fine and that he didn't mind at all, but sometimes Lily wondered if he still thought of her that way. Later, Anya had told Lily that Jake had been really crazy about her. Apparently, he thought she resembled a hot muggle model that he admired. Yeah right! In her opinion, you'd have to be clubbed on the head ten times and still have both eyes closed to think that her five-foot frame and pale skin bore any resemblance to that of any model! Come to think of it, she never understood why James had a thing for her either. Sometimes, she thought all guys were delusional. Must be a characteristic of the Y chromosome.

She picked up a piece of parchment and started writing.

_Hey Jake,_

_Sorry I wasn't home. James came over and asked me only this morning. I barely had time to get ready, forget tell anyone about it. Of course you guys can come over tomorrow. Tell Trista too. We'll talk more then, kay?_

_Lily._

"Here you go." She said to the tiny owl as she tied her reply to his foot.

Too exhausted to even think about anything else, she flopped down on the bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and she would need the rest.


	3. Of Friends And Bonding

**A/N: Hey! Huge Thanks to –**

**DarlingILoveYou, Cheynee, Damon'sBitch, Molly Raesly, Opiniated1234 and JaneSkye for reviewing the last chapter :D:D. Also, thanks to all those who added the story to their favorites and alerts list :D You're the best!**

_Previously on Summer Love: _James and Lily go to Tanya's pool party. They meet Isabella, Sirius, Tanya and Liam. Jake finds out that Lily finally said yes to James.

**3. Of Friends and Bonding**

Lily, Jake and Anya were sprawled out on Lily's front lawn. It was still early in the morning, so it was safe to assume that they wouldn't get a heatstroke from staying out too long under the summer sun. Too lazy to do anything else, they were simply plucking at the grass and talking idly.

"So, how was the party?" said Anya in a suggestive tone.

Lily rolled her eyes, smiling. "It was good. James and I had a good time…."

"And?"

"And…..I saw Liam."

"What! No way."

"In the _pool_, wearing only his swimming trunks!"

Anya let out a soft shriek. "Details."

Lily couldn't keep the blush or the slight smile off her face. "He is a sex god."

Anya made as if to say more but stopped abruptly when she saw Jake staring pointedly at both of them, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"Do you guys mind?"

"Sorry" they muttered giggling.

"Jake, yesterday you said you wanted to 'talk' to Lily, didn't you?"

Way to go An, thought Lily. Remind him of exactly what I don't want to talk about.

Anya winced as Lily threw her a look. Anya gave her an apologetic glance as she realized what Jake would want to talk about.

"What is it Jake?" said Lily resignedly.

"I'm not trying to act like a jerk or anything-"

"Looks like you've just got a natural talent for it then."

"-but I thought you hated James, why are you going out with him all of a sudden?"

"Look, you _are_ my friend okay, but this is none of your business. Anyway, I'm not going out with him yet. It was just one party."

"_Yet_?"

"Yes Jake, _yet_. I'll probably say yes if he asks me out."

"Really?" burst out Anya.

"Yes. He's changed a lot over the last year. He's not the arrogant toerag he used to be. I just want to know him better now, that's all."

Anya beamed at her. "Finally."

Both of them looked at Jake.

"Whatever." He said, looking sulky.

"Okay, back to the party. Lily! From beginning to end- everything."

"Alright, so when we first apparated there, we saw Sirius with this French girl Isabella. They seemed to be getting pretty cozy. We were just walking along when Tanya decided to grace us with her presence. She seemed extremely surprised that James and I were together at the party, don't know why."

"She likes him too, remember?"

"Hmm. That would explain. Anyway, then we walked over to the pool where we saw the Ravenclaws and of course Liam too."

Jake frowned. "I don't get it. You just said you would say yes to James, and now you blush at Liam's name."

Anya let out an exasperated sigh. "Let me explain. Lily wants to go out with James because he's a nice guy. Not just because of his looks or anything. However, Liam is just a pretty face and both of us are just embracing the fact that he is bloody hot. Also, Zara and Trista say he is one hell of a kisser. _But_, he is also a heart breaker. We don't actually want to date him or anything."

Jake still didn't look convinced.

"Think of it like this Jake. You love admiring Rosmerta from afar, right? Don't try to deny it because I know you do. Despite thinking she's celestially curvy; you're not going to date her are you?"

Jake nodded his head.

Lily smirked. "Exactly." **(A/N: I just wanted to make it clear that Lily doesn't actually like him. She's a teenage girl and let's face it, she would definitely have a crush on such a hot guy.) **

"LILY COME IN! FOOD IS READY." Called Mrs. Evans.

"WE'RE COMING MOM!"

* * *

They walked into the kitchen to find Petunia already at the table wearing a grumpy expression. She was dressed in her nightgown and had obviously just gotten up from bed.

"Hey Tuney." Said Lily.

Petunia gave them a look of utmost disgust. "Hey freaks. Can you try not to blow up the kitchen or anything?"

"Course we'll try. Tuney's just so friendly in the morning, isn't she?" said Lily turning to Anya.

"Yeah, it's such a pleasure to be around her." Said Anya, joining in.

"What a right little ray of sunshine, don't you think?" added Jake, as Petunia scowled at all three of them.

"In fact, if she's more charming than a tamed bull in a tutu."

"She can give you the sweetest smile, and still look like she's constipated."

"She can also give you a hug and strangle you at the same time."

"No kidding! Look, she can raise her finger and walk away at the same time!"

Anya sighed dramatically. "Merlin bless her. What a talented sister you have there Lils."

"I know. I always thought she was the ultimate miracle of life. Walking proof that humans can live even without a heart and a sense of humor."

"Life with her must be such a lovely experience."

"More so than you can imagine."

"Lily, where's Tuney?" asked Lily's mom as she re-entered the room.

Lily shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe she isn't hungry."

Lily's mother gave her an exasperated look. "You know she always eats breakfast. Did you guys fight again?"

"By fight, if you mean engage in a conversation which started with me saying hi and her calling me a freak again, then yeah."

"You guys really need to act more like sisters. You don't realize how lucky you are to have each other."

"I didn't realize lucky meant being called a freak by your sister everyday."

"You guys just stay here and finish your breakfast; I'll take her plate upstairs."

"You don't have to take her food up for her mom. She'll come down if she's hungry." Said Lily, annoyed.

"Well someone around here needs to be nice to her."

Lily made a disbelieving sound and started to eat her food wordlessly. Anya and Jake followed suit and sat down too. After a rather quite breakfast, they thought it would be best for everybody if Lily was kept far away from Petunia so they decided to take a walk to the park down the lane.

* * *

Lily smiled forlornly as she stared at the bushes and the swings. It had been around this time in the summer almost seven years ago that she had first met Severus properly. He had become her best friend pretty soon after that. It was thanks to him that she had not been utterly confused when she first heard about Hogwarts. How close they used to be….but now? It was weird how you slowly lost a best friend. Still, no point in agonizing over the past. Especially the kind of past that wanted a dark future with _Death Eaters._

"Lil, let's swing!"

Lily raised her eyebrows at Anya.

"C'mon don't be a killjoy."

Grumbling, she hopped onto the swing. She actually felt relaxed as she felt the wind blow across her face, fanning her red tresses around her. She closed her eyes to enjoy the moment. No wonder kids were always so happy, all they did was play. No pointless worrying about super annoying sisters, ex-friends, best-friends and boyfriends. Looking down again, she realized Jake was staring at her.

"What?" she said, scrunching her forehead.

He started as if to say something, but then shook his head again.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned to Anya. "How often are Trista and Michael meeting each other in the summer?"

"Zara said almost everyday. He sneaks out at night and climbs in through the window in Trista's room. Their parents don't know about this."

"What if he's caught? There going to be so screwed!"

Anya nodded. "I know, but they don't care. They're really crazy about each other."

Lily gave her a knowing look. "Remember what she confessed to us last term?"

"Course…. that she thinks she's in love with him."

"I think he feels the same way about her. No matter what she acts like, he never gets mad at her."

"Even when she acts like a bitch, he knows exactly how to handle her. I think that's amazing."

"They definitely have a very special connection, but how can you find love when you're just sixteen? It's just not possible."

"Lily, sometimes age doesn't matter. You just know that they're the one. I'll bet you anything they'll end up married."

"Maybe. But I don't believe in finding true love at sixteen. Still, it's beautiful to watch how happy they are whenever they're together."

Anya smiled. "It makes you want to fall in love too, doesn't it?"

Lily bit her lip and sighed. "Yes, sometimes. But right now, I have to concentrate on making it through seventh year and getting a good job."

Jake, who had been silently trying to ignore their girl talk all along, cleared his throat.

"I should probably get going guys; my mom needs me at home."

"Already?"

"Yeah, we'll meet up at my house again sometime soon, okay?"

"Kay."

* * *

"Don't you think I have the most irresistible face in the universe?" said James, as he surveyed his reflection in the mirror.

"I beg to differ Prongs, seeing that _I _hold the title of irresistible." Replied Sirius idly.

"And I cannot fathom how you two were born as guys instead of girls and how you have such over inflated egos." added Remus drily.

"Don't be so jealous Moony, I'm sure we could snag you the third position."

"Yeah, thanks Prongs. That's exactly what I wanted." Said Remus sarcastically.

"Knew I'd get you to admit it some day."

The three marauders were lying about lazily in James' room, Sirius and James acting like the teenage idiots they were and Remus observing them with a critical eye. The room was looking like your average pigsty due to the fact that Mrs. Potter had forbidden the house-elves from cleaning it, in a desperate bid to make Sirius and James act more responsible. Needless to say, the plan had failed miserably. The room was looking as messy as ever and Sirius and James- well, let's just say they didn't look like they gave a shit that their room could be the birth place of a brand new plague.

"I'm bored. Let's take a ride around the neighborhood." Said Sirius, as he flexed his muscles.

James grinned. "Let's see who's stupid enough to pick a fight with the marauders, yeah?"

Remus looked at them in disbelief. "What? You're going to go about randomly punching and hexing people?"

"We don't _randomly_ pick fights!" said James defensively.

"Yeah, we do it only to those who refuse to respect our position." Agreed Sirius.

"Or to those who insist on going after girls we have already marked as ours."

"See! We're perfectly justified."

Remus shook his head. "Unbelievable."

He grimaced as he recalled the previous time James and Sirius had been let loose on the neighborhood. They had taken Sirius' motorbike and set out to 'explore' the area, as they liked to put it. Dressed in ostentatious dragon leather, they had attracted a fair amount of attention especially from some pretty muggle girls, much to the distaste of their aggressive boyfriends who thought it would be very manly to try and pick a fight with the marauders. Needless to say, the two boys had most willingly risen to the unspoken challenge. Long story short, they managed to make both girls break up with their seven- month long boyfriends and add their names to the two marauder's ridiculously long fan list, all within a span of forty-five minutes. The enraged boyfriends had unwisely graced the boys with a few choice words before fleeing away in their cars. Unfortunately for them, this might or might not have resulted in James and Sirius sneaking out that very night to egg their houses before filling the entire neighborhood with much unholy writing about their manhood. Remus was sure the two boys had never gotten over the utter embarrassment of seeing their names in the most perverted sentences, in four feet tall writing, all over the neighborhood. It was a good thing that the juvenile inspector had never managed to figure out the culprits behind that tainted act. Of course, he would have never imagined that James and Sirius would be capable of such a thing even if he saw them, thanks to their ability to charm anyone or anything within a matter of seconds. Agreed, it had been hilarious in the beginning, but Remus still thought it had been extremely unfair, and more importantly, _wrong._

He sighed wearily. However much he thought what they did was wrong, he would never tell them upfront to stop. How could he when they risked their lives every month, just so that he wouldn't have to be alone during his transformations? All he could hope for was that they would grow out of it soon. After all, they had improved quite a bit since fifth year, and they had another whole year ahead. All they needed was a little incentive. Suddenly, out of nowhere a thought struck him.

"James!" he called out.

"What?"

"Shouldn't you be spending your time trying to figure out how to woo Evans?"

Sirius eyed Remus suspiciously.

"Hmm, you know what, that's not a bad idea."

"That's what I thought."

"Yeah… Padfoot and you can help me figure out what I can do next."

Sirius frowned as Remus smirked to himself and thought, step one complete.

**Sirius POV**

The strikingly handsome marauder looked at his best friend with narrowed eyes.

What the hell was Moony up to now? Was this his plan for getting them to behave better, distract James with a girl? Damn him for knowing full well that James would never turn down an opportunity to spend time doing anything even remotely related to Lily. Well, nothing left to do now except wait for James to return from his Lily mania mood. Wait a minute! He could always _help_ his best-mate. The glorious smirk, that was the marauder trademark, returned to his face and his eyes glinted with undisguised mischief. Time to pay the one and only Lily-pop a visit. Sirius had taken to calling her that ever since their first Hogsmead trip, when James had been so caught up in gazing at Lily that he had asked the shopkeeper for a Lily-pop instead of a lollipop. James had blushed a violent shade of magenta and Sirius, finding this incident highly amusing (and also perverted) had nicknamed Lily as Lily-pop.

* * *

Sirius surveyed the house in front of him as he stood on the side walk. It was a beautiful house. Nothing compared to the Potter mansion of course, but still fairly big. He supposed Lily had the room with the large window facing the street. It was very Lily-like.

"Hi Mrs. Evans, I'm Sirius Black, a friend of Lily's from school. Can I meet her please?" he said charmingly, as he flashed the lady a blinding smile.

"Umm, of course, come in." she flustered, as she tried to recover from the effect of Sirius' charm.

"She's upstairs with Anya." She added, flashing him a quick smile.

"Thank you." He replied courteously as he made his way up the stairs.

"Hey Lils, Anya" he said brightly, as he promptly walked into her room.

Both girls were sitting on Lily's bed and their mouths fell open as they looked at him. He smirked openly at their faces. The boy did have a thing for grand entrances. After all, he was a marauder.

Lily recovered first.

"Are your knuckles frozen? Is it a life or death situation? Did your brain stop functioning? Do you want me to knock you out?"

"Umm…no."

"Then what stopped you from knocking the door?"

"Er…I didn't think I had to."

"That's a surprise! And what is it with you marauders and your random visits?"

"Well sorry if we like to drop by once in a while to check on our friends." Said Sirius, giving her a classic look of innocence.

Lily snorted "I'm sure."

"C'mon, don't be like that. Aren't you going to ask me to sit?"

Lily sighed resignedly while Anya giggled.

"Hey Sirius, please do have a seat."

"Thank you." He beamed.

"So, what's up?"

"Well Lily-pop, right now my best mate is obsessing over ways to win you over, you know."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, and I'll let you know that this is really shifting his priorities in life."

"Uh-huh. And how is that?"

"Well, believe it or not but before, he actually _had_ a life that consisted of things not related to you."

"Surprisingly, I figured that out."

"I don't blame you or anything, you didn't ask for an obsessive stalker."

"How is he an obsessive stalker?"

"He knows which cereal you like to eat and he can perfectly describe the smell of your hair." Stated Sirius, as if that cleared up everything.

"Hmm, interesting." Replied Lily. _Did he really like her that much or was this just a phase he would get over soon enough? I mean, he used to ask her out all the time at Hogwarts, but it always felt like it was just a game to him, a challenge of some sort. She never really considered the possibility that he might actually like her. She didn't understand why he would like someone like her. He was one of the most popular boys at school, unofficial leader of the marauders, he could have anyone under his charm within seconds, any hot girl at school, then why her? She was just Lily Evans. Best witch in their year, teacher's pet and charms club leader. Of course, she also had a vivacious and fun loving side, but this was known only by her friends. Outsiders never gave her the chance to show them who she really was, they naturally assumed that since she got top marks, she would be a nerd. But she was far from it. With a surprisingly wicked sense of humor and a naturally bubbly personality, she was an amazing friend._

"But that still doesn't tell us why you're here."

"Ouch. Is it so hard to believe that I came just to spend some quality time with you guys?"

"Yes." Said both girls together.

"Well, I just came by to ask you to just give him a chance to prove how much he likes you. Please Lily, when he asks you to go out with him, which he will, just say yes for once. Is it really so horrifying for you to be his girlfriend?"

"For your information, I never said yes before because he used to be a really obnoxious prat. But I realized he has changed quite a bit, if not completely, and I already decided to give him a chance."

"Okay, well I have to go now. Oh, and one more thing, now that you're going to be my brother's girlfriend, this means you're my friend too. So expect random visits very often, okay?"

"I'll work on that."

"See you around." Said Sirius, before giving them a charming grin and strutting out of the room.

"Well, that was weird."

"Definitely."

* * *

That evening, James decided to go over to Lily's, along with Sirius ("mate, you're going to need some moral support out there.") to do some serious 'bonding'. What started as a casual chat about themselves ended up with James and Sirius wrestling each other for fun and James teaching Lily how to punch properly.

"You need to punch where there's more bone and less flesh, then it hurts the person more."

"Okay."

"You see here?" he said pointing to his muscles, "This area is where you should punch someone if you want to hurt them."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"And remember to keep you fist closed like this and always straight when you punch, otherwise you risk bending your wrist."

"Like this?" said Lily, as she clenched her fist.

"Yup."

"Can I try on you?"

"Sure."

"Are you sure I won't hurt you?"

He smirked and rolled his eyes. "Definitely not."

Lily pulled her fist back and punched James near his shoulder.

"Did that hurt?"

He was half laughing and half smirking at her.

"Not at all."

"Crap." Said Lily as she flexed her fingers, her knuckles were feeling a little sore.

He smirked as Sirius muttered "Show-off"

"Oh well, I just need some practice."

"Yeah." Nodded James.

"More like a lot of practice." added Sirius laughing.

* * *

**A/N: Well, How was it? Sorry for the long wait, but I had to make some changes in this chapter and shift some stuff to the next. Please review! **


	4. Hidden Jealousy

**A/N: Hey, so this is sort of like a necessary filler, but I promise a bigger chapter will be up soon:)**

4.

Within a week it seemed to Lily as if she and Anya had known the marauders for their whole life. They spent almost everyday together, and not one day had been boring. The lazy days of the summer just seemed to fly by, leaving behind many great memories. The boys were so easy to warm up to. She really wished she had given them a chance before. Right now they were simply running about the lawn, burning off excess energy.

"Anya!" laughed James as he grabbed her into a bear hug.

"James!" she giggled, as she ruffled his hair.

Sirius watched both of them with narrowed eyes, his mouth forming a slight pout.

"Be masculine Sirius." Said Lily laughing.

Sirius gave her a sulky look.

"What? Ur masturbating?" said Anya looking up.

"Oi! What is wrong with you?"

"Clearly James isn't a great influence on her." Said Lily, biting back a laugh.

"No shit."

"And clearly you seem to look a little jealous." Said Lily, so only he could hear her.

"Balls." He muttered, lightly shoving her shoulder.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Dunno….do you guys want to head down to Fortescue's ice-cream parlor in the morning?"

"Sure."

"Okay, break people." Panted Anya, as she flopped down on the lawn.

Sirius fell down beside and pulled her on top of him. "Exercise is good for you."

"Look who's talking."

"Hey! I exercise plenty."

"Uh-huh. That explains a lot."

"You see these muscles."

"Actually, I don't."

"Then maybe something covering them is obstructing your view." He winked roguishly.

"Or maybe you're just delusional." She replied, rolling off him.

Lily and James laughed as Sirius pouted.

Engrossed in their own world, none of them noticed an unusually large neck strained over a nearby bush. To those who didn't know better, the expression on those horsy features could have easily been mistaken for that of contempt and loathing for all those who were part of her freak sister's world. A more experienced man would have deciphered the jealousy hidden beneath. The resentfulness and the longing to be part of the same world that those fun, sweet, amazing, beautiful boys belonged to. How she wanted it, all of it. But Petunia Evans could never be a witch like her perfect sister.


	5. Milkshakes, Firewhisky and Weird Dreams

5.

Lily hummed happily to herself as she rinsed the lavender shampoo (her preferred flavor) off her hair. Wrapping herself with a towel, she stepped out of her bathroom and made her way to the bed where she had laid out a maroon summer dress and teamed it with a pair of sandals. She braided a tiny bit of her long red hair and pinned it up to one side. Slipping on a bracelet and a pair of earrings, she hopped downstairs to grab some breakfast before heading off to Fortescue's ice-cream parlor.

As the soothing warm breeze fanned her face, Lily wondered if everything would be the same once they went back to Hogwarts. Summer would be over soon, and she would have to trade her walkman for her wand and her shorts for robes. Would returning to school change her new found friendship with Sirius and James? They had grown pretty close in a short time, and she had gotten used to their constant presence everyday. She was sure she would miss them if this ceased once they returned. She knew that they would never purposely abandon her, but they did have their own friends (quite a few of them) at Hogwarts. She would never be able to compete with that. And the more prominent question, how would everyone react when they saw how things were between them? Surely they would think her a hypocrite. After all, hadn't she always gone on about how they were arrogant troublemakers? But it couldn't be denied that they had changed quite a bit. Well, a little bit at least.

Despite all her insecurities, Lily couldn't help but smile back widely, when she saw Sirius and James grinning and waving from a table across. The rest of the marauders, as well as some guys from Ravenclaw (including Liam, she realized with a sharp intake of breath), seemed to have a joined table with them. Anya was yet to arrive.

"Hey guys." She smiled, as she sat down beside them.

"Took you long enough to get here Lily-pop, what where you doing for so long might I ask?' winked Sirius impishly.

"Nothing even close to what you're going to suggest."

"Damn you know me well."

"You're just really predictable Padfoot." Said James in a bored voice.

"No I am not!"

"Actually you kind of are." Said Liam, joining in.

He seemed to be jovial outward, but in reality he was wondering about the dynamics of the group. Last time he had checked Lily and Anya had never been this close to Sirius and James. Not that he had known much about them, he was acquainted with the marauders only because they caused havoc together. They weren't really friends, more like business partners.

"Outvoted mate." Informed Remus.

"I noticed." Said Sirius sourly.

"How observant of you." Said Lily.

"You know what, it's not my fault you guys are ignorant louts. I am dark, mysterious and manly, all of which do not add up to predictable."

Lily who was just taking a sip from James' glass, snorted loudly, choking slightly. This earned a laugh from James and an affronted look from Sirius.

"Dark….mysterious…manly." giggled Lily helplessly, with tears in her eyes from choking on the milkshake.

James and Remus burst out laughing again as they caught her eye. Sirius was always going on about how he should be considered dangerous and sexy because he was the Hogwarts Casanova. It was pretty funny. He was extremely talented and a feared dueller, yes. But Sirius had this aura about him, he was like…..happy sunshine, lighting up your life. Only very rarely had the marauders seen another side of him, an actually dangerous one. The side that was courtesy to his Black upbringing, the side that had almost disappeared ever since the creation of the marauders. The effect the brothers in all but blood had on each other was unique, special….unheard of.

"James what exactly is in this shake?" asked Lily, now looking with distaste at the white concoction.

"Umm….quite an assortment of things."

"It tastes horrible."

"We know." Said Sirius and James smirking at each other.

Lily had a strong suspicion they had intended for her to drink it and then ask them that very question.

"Why did you order it?"

"I'm glad that you asked. It was mostly for your benefit. Can you guess why?"

"I'm thinking I know what the answer is going to be along the lines of, and I most definitely do not want to hear it." She said, her eyes narrowing. _Prats. It was like they had a clinical compulsion to annoy her._

"You see Lils, the drink was named '_White Delight' _so we were curious as to why they would call it that-"

"Or what possessed them to give a probably very edible drink, such an interesting name-"

"When Fortescue told us it was a thick white drink, usually consumed before or during intense events, helping the body stay hydrated despite sweat and-"

"Actually he said 'intense sporting events for example Quidditch." Inserted Remus before Sirius clamped his mouth shut and continued.

"He recommended we take it before playing, but we knew we just had to give you the first opportunity of tasting such an exquisite creation." He grinned evilly.

"Ew! Gross! Stupid pervs!" she exclaimed, whacking James hard on the head and giving death glares to Sirius. _Yup. They definitely had a mental condition. _

"Anya! Over here." Shouted Sirius, waving to her.

"Hey Anya." Smiled Remus shyly.

"Hello." She smiled, "I see Lily is already scowling."

"She seems to be extra touchy today, we weren't that awful." Said Sirius, pouting.

"PMS much?" smirked Anya at her best friend.

Lily scowled harder, which for some unknown reason, made Sirius and James laugh again.

"You don't want to mess with her boys; I've been on the receiving end of quite a few of her kicks-"

"And they're not that pretty." Finished Lily for her.

James gulped. "Chocolate?" he asked innocently. Lily glared at him.

"So, you guys up for heading to 'Blizzard' tonight?" asked Liam.

"Sure." Nodded James and Sirius, looking at Remus who shrugged a yes too.

"Are you girls coming?" asked Liam, gazing at Lily and Anya with his head tilted.

"Umm….no thanks." Blushed Lily.

"Yeah….me neither."

"You sure? It's going to be a crazy night." he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They don't fancy clubbing and getting in trouble much." Answered James grinning uncertainly.

"Just not our thing." Said Lily biting down on her lower lip, a habit when she was nervous or embarrassed.

"Little angels they are." Winked Sirius playfully ruffling the top of Lily's hair, to which she replied by calmly pinching his neck.

"Ow!...you're brutal."

"You mean brutally good."

**LIAM POV**

"Oh alright." Said Liam, still looking amusedly at Lily. _She was such a prude when it came to partying. Why was that so damn cute?_

"I'll just invite Tanya and the girls, yeah?"

"Sure." Shrugged Sirius.

_What did this guy, one of the biggest players of Hogwarts, see in this girl? How could such a friendship ever be forged? Hmm…it was slightly intriguing he had to admit. Their bond was strange. He might want to experience it for himself sometime. Like that would take more than two seconds to do, he smirked as he recalled how she blushed at his very presence._

* * *

Lily and James walked in comfortable silence on the way back. Anya and Sirius had gone along with the Ravenclaws to inspect a few new joke shops. Apparently they were now selling these awesome new stuff, like invisible fart balloons (place them behind a teacher and watch with glee), callous candy (just hand them over to a bully and he'll get what he deserves.) and veritable voice makers (Check it out for yourself).

"Only few more days left till its back to Hogwarts again." Said James thoughtfully.

"Yeah." Agreed Lily ruefully.

"Summer's been so great."

"Pretty nice….yeah. But Hogwarts is going to be even better, with only all of us away from home."

"True. Gryffindors totally rule." He grinned.

"Can't wait to get back to the usual schedule, I always never liked summer much, even when Severus was there…." Said Lily slowly.

"Lily-"

"But spending this summer with you guys….it was really amazing. Thank you James." She said, rubbing his arm slightly.

"Glad to be of help Evans." He smiled widely.

"You like that name a lot don't you?" she laughed amused.

"_Very _much."

She smiled, blushing slightly.

He felt his cheeks burn. Something inside him longed to reach out to her, touch her, feel her skin. What he wouldn't give to be able to hug her and comfort her. But he had waited this long, and he wanted to do it the right way. She deserved the most breathtaking moment to be the time he asked her to go out with him. Now that they were finally friends….he felt almost speechless with gratefulness. When he returned to Hogwarts for their seventh year, it would be with Lily Evans as his girlfriend.

"So have fun tonight." Said Lily, as they reached the door.

James nodded "I'll try. Can't guarantee anything though."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"See you tomorrow?" he said.

"Sure thing. Bye."

* * *

**REMUS POV**

Remus Lupin frowned as he sipped at his martini. All his friends were half drunk at this point; he was obviously the most sensible one. At least muggles had consequences like a hangover when they got drunk, all wizards had to do was use their wands. To be fair, you had to be pretty talented to get the spells right and the guys had more than that. He watched the guys down tequila shots and Firewhisky with a bored expression. He knew Sirius and James only did it because…..well fine, he didn't know exactly why they were so inclined towards this. Probably because they were still a little rash and immature. He so wished they would grow up.

"Look at that one." Laughed Liam, pointing at a hot chick on the dance floor.

"Two words mate." Slurred Sirius winking, "_very _bang-able"

James chuckled as he downed another shot. Peter looked as if he would wet himself with glee. Sirius was pretty funny when he was drunk.

Remus sighed. He didn't know what would ever change Padfoot. He loved the guy, but sometimes it felt like Sirius was just trying to prove something to the world, and Remus didn't know what. Every full moon they risked their very lives for him, but when he saw them like this he didn't know how those brothers could be the same people as these guys. He partially blamed their parents for this. James had parents that spoiled him way too much, courtesy to the fact that he was their only precious son. Sirius had parents who seemed to not give a shit about him as long as he gave them reason to verbally abuse him. Maybe things would change this year, maybe they would finally grow up.

* * *

**LILY POV**

_She was walking on a beach. The waves gently nipped at her toes, the sand tickling her feet as she looked on at the sunset. It was so beautiful. _

"_Are you cold?" _

_Liam. Perfectly sculpted chest, caring arms, slightly smiling lips._

"_Ho…how does it matter to you?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You don't care about me. I'm not like those beautiful girls you usually date. I'm so…..regular." I wasn't asking. I was stating. That much was obvious._

"_Are you sure Lily? Think carefully. All those times you used to stare at me in class. Sometimes you used to catch me staring back too, right?"_

_I looked on uncertainly. "Maybe."_

_He edged closer to me and draped his jacket around my shoulders._

"_Well, I did."_

_His fingers rested at the nape of my neck, gently touching the skin there. My heart beat started to race. My first instinct was to run away, but obviously my body had other needs. I edged closer to him, my face leaning into his. He let his lips rest at my neck, and then slowly traced the path to my lips. Kissing me gently, he parted his lips as I started kissing him back. Smiling, we fell onto the soft sand, our hands roaming and his face buried in my hair. He really did have a washboard stomach and such warm, comforting arms…._

"_Lily no!" said someone, "don't let him play around with you." The voice filled with concern and maybe…love._

_She turned to see who the voice belonged to. It felt vaguely familiar._

"_TRRIIIINNNNG!"_

Lily woke up with a start, holding her head in her hands at the sound of her alarm. Pushing the button sleepily, she sat in silence for five seconds and then blushed deeply and her mouth opened in shock as she realized what she had just dreamt. Holiest of holy shit! She had no idea why she just had that dream. Sure, she had a crush on him, but she wasn't that crazy about him! In fact, just yesterday she had come to the conclusion that she was completely over him. What was this supposed to mean? She slowly took in a few breaths. If she didn't stay calm, she'd probably launch into a full scale panic attack. What could be the possible explanations? Okay, she was probably PMS-ing. She sighed with relief. Yeah, that was probably it. Instead of craving chocolate, she was starting to crave _him. _What?Weird, very weird. Anyway, it was just a dream, right?

She hopped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She splashed some water onto her face and looked into the mirror. Bright, green eyes stared back at her. She thought of James. Had the voice been his? She couldn't tell. Her red hair lay in a tangled mess around her face. Sometimes she thought Petunia had a point. In some ways, she was probably very much a freak.

"Lily!" she heard her mom call after another ten minutes.

"Coming Mum." She replied as she hurried down the stairs.

"Honey, I know it's your summer and that you'd prefer spending it with your friends, but I'd appreciate if you learnt to help around the house a little bit. I haven't asked you to do any chores all summer, but Tuny's birthday is this weekend, and there are still so many things left to do. I need you to paint the basement today because apparently that's where she wants to have her elegant-do."

Lily groaned internally, but she knew her mother wouldn't have asked her unless it was extremely necessary.

"Sure Mum."

"Would you like some toast?"

"Yeah thanks."

Great. Now she had to paint the basement. What was worse was that she had to paint it for P_etunia_. James, Sirius and Anya would probably get to hang out the whole day while she slogged the day away in a stuffy basement. Cheers. She wondered for a Milli-second what would happen if she nipped out her wand for a bit. Yeah, that wasn't an option.

"I'll get it!" she said as the doorbell rang.

She was greeted by three cheerful hellos.

"Hey. Petunia is having her birthday this weekend and i promised my mum I'd paint the basement, so I guess you guys are gonna have to go on without me."

"Lily Lily Lily. Have you learnt nothing about us?" asked James.

Aww so sweet. They weren't gonna let her work all alone. Her three saviors!

"Yeah. Do you really think we would leave you alone to paint and miss all the fun, when we could also be there annoying you?" asked Sirius.

"These two do have a point."

Right. Then again, who was she kidding?

Lily gave Anya a glare, as she playfully shoved them. "Maybe I should make you guys leave before you get any such ideas."

"Too late." said James haughtily, as he easily slid past her into the kitchen.

"Good Morning ." he beamed charmingly, "would you mind if we stayed in your basement today?"

"Of course James, I wouldn't mind at all."

"Thank you." he said with a winning smile.

Lily shook her head softly, barely concealing a smile as they followed her down the stairs. Did he ever not get his way?

* * *

**A/N: Hey awesome readers! :D Firstly, I would like to know if u guys would like it if I had a playlist at the beginning of each chapter, just one or two songs that fit with that chapter? Let me know. And also, the next chapter is gonna be a pretty special one=p *hint hint* It's something I've had written out since a long time and It's one of my favs so i'm not gonna update until I have at least 7 reviews on this one:p (I wanted a total of 20 reviews for the story before I put it up) C'mon guys it's not that hard! So plz review n I'll update? :) **


	6. When Love Takes Over

6.

**Hey awesome readers! I was totally overwhelmed and hyper-happy when I saw your reviews:D Thank you so much to- TheHugMonster, dragontrainer16, Elven witch wolf, looney3, WootWoot, samira parsa, HalfBloodPotter93, Lil' Satana/Demon Muffin, When Hazel Meets Emerald, speedtexter, isigirl (who always reads and reviews xo), Kaighla (who took the time to review every chapter xo) and Opiniated1234 (Who is my FFnet best buddy and is always there for me and my stories 3 3) This chapter is for you guys:)**

**(Song- 'This afternoon' by Nickelback)**

Lily stared in disbelief as she saw what her sister had set up there. Petunia actually had the nerve to leave her a note ordering exactly how she wanted the walls painted. The note was stuck onto the wall and beneath it there were probably fifteen buckets of paint, some beige and the rest baby blue. A dozen brushes lay at their feet.

_Dear Lily, _(the note read)

_I need you to paint all the walls and the ceiling in baby blue and then add a dash of beige to them. Give it an elegant look; I have important friends like Vernon coming over._

_I already bought the paints and kept them ready for you, yes you're most welcome. I thought you might get confused with the colors at the store. Although you lack common sense and intelligence (which is why I had to buy the paints myself) you do have a little flair for things like cleaning and organizing, which is why I left this job to you. I hope you will execute it properly and not let me regret this choice._

_Will be back by seven to check it,_

_Petunia._

Lily gritted her teeth as she read it again, her knuckles balled up. She didn't even have words to express her thoughts right now. She was going to have to ruin a perfectly pleasant morning all for a person who didn't possess basic manners. Not a single please or thank you in the whole frikkin' letter. Of course she had learnt long ago not to expect much from her sister, but she thought she would be at least a little grateful that Lily was going out of her way to help her.

**JAMES POV**

I watched a little concerned as Lily balled up her tiny fists and angrily shook back her hair. I had to hold back a smile. Little spitfire. I walked up behind her to check what was making her so mad. Once I did, I could understand why. Sweet Merlin. Her sister really was a jerk. Well, luckily for everyone I had years of expertise when it came to Lily Evans and her temper display. I could assure you that apologies and pacifying wouldn't work. Instead you had to say something that would confuse, distract, and make her so angry she wouldn't do anything immediately or say something that would make her smile. Yes, at least she had a sense of humor even when she was angry. As I had to ensure my spending the rest of the day in her house, I chose the last option.

"Ahem." I coughed.

She looked at me her eyebrows raised sarcastically.

"Well you read what the young lady wants done, chop chop! Get started immediately, I shall supervise you personally. Of course, I would need you to get a glass of water for me first, but I assume you know what is expected of you." I said, with my hand on my hips.

I watched as the smile tugged at the corner of her lips, almost giving her away.

But then she rolled her eyes and said "Shut up and pick a brush."

I grinned. Mission accomplished. I was _so _awesome.

"Maybe I should do the upper part of the walls, Sirius can do the ceiling and you and Anya can take care of the rest." I said, as I saw her trying to reach a high spot on the wall.

"Knock yourself out." She replied starting on a wall with baby blue.

I hopped up behind her and started painting the upper part of the wall. I covered the area with lazy strokes in no time. With my shoulders relaxed and one hand in my pocket I smirked.

"Show-off." She muttered as I sat down on the floor to watch her finish her half.

"You're just jealous." I said.

"Of what? The fact that you could have a future as a painter?"

"Was that a confession?"

"Get a life."

I sprung up immediately and put my arms around her, hugging her close. _Damn, that felt good._

"I'm holding it."

She blushed pushing me off.

"Such an idiot. Get off me."

I grinned. It was always so much fun to annoy her.

"You wound me."

"Nah." She replied smirking as she flicked a drop of paint at me, "I put paint on you."

"How dare you!" I grabbed the brush making a few drops fall on her, and then lifted her off the ground into my arms. She squealed and started kicking as I held her above a bucket of paint.

"James put me down!"

"Into the bucket? My pleasure." I said as I pretended to let go.

"NO!" she yelled, as she grabbed onto my shirt.

"Calm down." I replied laughing. This was hilarious.

"Oi!" yelled Sirius.

"Yeah mate?"

"This is insulting. Why am I being the responsible one here?"

"No idea?"

"Mrs. Evans was nice enough to let us help; we have to be good and finish this properly."

"Ooo mother chicken much?" said Anya.

Sirius spared her a scowl before turning back to us. "Go upstairs, get yourselves cleaned, wear something old and get back down. I want your mom to be amazed when she sees how we've transformed the basement."

"Looks like Sirius has a crush on your mom Lils."

"Get moving you perv."

"Alright, alright." I said putting Lily down safely.

We made our way to Lily's room. I leaned against the frame of the bathroom door as she went in and turned the tap on.

I joined her as she started scrubbing the paint off. I splashed some water onto her as she looked up.

"Hey!"

"Sorry I couldn't resist."

"Well neither can I." she said as she tried to push me into the tub full of water.

I laughed at her attempt. Maybe it was the fact that I was finally really a part of Evans' life or maybe because spending time with her made me so happy, but I was feeling pretty exhilarated at the moment. Suddenly I lifted her by the shoulders and pushed her into the tub instead.

"POTTER YOU IDIOT!" she yelled. Obviously she had never expected me to do that. Well, if she was going to be hanging out with me, it was time she got used to facing the unexpected.

"I thought you might want to soak the paint of." I said innocently, as I looked at the amusing sight in front of me. She was completely drenched in her shirt and jeans.

"Now I'm completely wet!" she shrieked, clearly a little annoyed. She glared at me like she would like nothing better than to punch me right now. Ok, maybe she was more than a little annoyed. She looked like she was contemplating her chances of winning if she continued the fight with me. I believe they looked bleak.

Finally after throwing me another super-pissed glare and pushing me as she got out, she stomped out of the bathroom and headed for her closet. She grabbed an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts herself before flinging an old large T-shirt at me.

"You can put that on." She snapped, muttering something that sounded a lot like 'wait till I get my wand out, I'll make sure you represent the word dick-head.'

"What was that interesting thing you just said?"

"Get out you retard, I'm changing!" she yelled as I followed her into the bathroom. Jeez, so much for curiosity.

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders as I backed out of the bathroom.

"If it helps, you look sexy as hell when you're wet!" I said before she slammed the door in my face. I swear I caught a glimpse of a smile before she did.

I pulled of my shirt and got into the new one. Clearly it would take a while for her to get out, so I decided to use this time to explore her room.

I'd always thought yellow walls could be considered cute, provided they belonged to the right girl of course. In contrast to the obsessively neat freak she was at school, she seemed much more normal at home. Messy bed, clothes laying everywhere….I particularly liked the lacy bra hanging from her-

"What are you staring at?"

Ah! I loved how she chose the most conveniently precise moments to walk in on me.

"Admiring the woodwork." I shrugged innocently.

She shook her head exasperatedly and said "Yes I really believe you. Minor problem though, you seem to be drooling."

"Err..." I muttered, my hand jumping to my hair.

"Kidding James, let's go." She laughed at my obvious slight discomfort.

On arriving back at the basement, they realized that Sirius and Anya had already finished half the work. Sighing, they picked up their brushes and helped finish the rest. As they painted side by side, James sneaked a look at Lily. She caught his eye and smiled back. James felt his neck heat up. That was it, he couldn't wait any longer. Watching her so close beside him, but unable to touch her, claim her as his own, he wanted her all to himself. Tonight would be the night; he was finally going to ask Evans out in all seriousness, and chances were she would actually say yes this time.

* * *

**(Songs- For James POV :'Nothin on you' by BOB, 'If it's love' by Train. For Lily POV: 'When love takes over' by David Guetta)**

James ruffled his hair as he stayed on his broom with one hand. He slowed down and hovered near the window. He sucked in his breath as he peeked through her open window. Lily was fast asleep on her bed, her chest slowly raising up and down, her mouth slightly open and red tendrils framing her delicate face. Merlin, she was bloody beautiful!

"Evans!" he whispered loudly.

She didn't even move.

"Evans!" he repeated. He might have as well been talking to himself.

"Lily! I'm at your window."

There was still no response.

Screw etiquette, he thought as he let himself in through her window. He threw his Nimbus aside and slowly made his way to her bed. Gently, he shook her awake.

"Lily, wake up! It's James."

Sleepily she opened her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw who it was.

"Merlin, James! What are you doing here?"

"I was out for a night ride on my nimbus and I couldn't resist seeing you." I gave her one of my most charming smiles. It worked.

"You are one crazy guy, you know? Why would you want to see me half asleep in the middle of the night? Don't you have better stuff to do?"

"Well, obviously I don't."

She rolled her eyes in response and yawned.

"I'm too sleepy to talk. Come back when it's time for normal humans to wake up."

"Who said you and I were normal?"

"Really? You're going to use that line?"

"Well _I'm _awesome."

"Cocky much?" She joked.

"Very much. C'mon, I'll take you for a ride." I said, grinning like an idiot as I pulled her gently towards the window.

"James! No way. I'm not going to ride on a broom stick in the middle of the night. That's just insane!"

"That's just awesome."

"Are you serious?"

"Yup. Please, Lily?" I said, turning the full force of my perfect hazel eyes on her.

Lily groaned, "You are _so_ annoying, I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Is that a yes?"

"I will personally see to your death if we get in any kind of unwanted trouble."

"Is that a yes?"

"I'm probably still half asleep."

"Relax. It's not like I'm going to take you on a ride over the _whole_ of London or anything."

Lily gulped, "James!"

I just laughed as I hopped onto my Nimbus and helped her on in front of me. "So I can hold you better, and you don't fall." I explained.

Lily felt her face heat up in spite of the fact that she had just woken up, as James put his arms around her while holding onto the broomstick. A tingle shot through her body as she felt his comforting, warm breath on her neck. Was it cologne or did he naturally smell that intoxicatingly good? And those arms how were they so muscled and tanned? How much did a seventeen year old boy work out for Merlin's sake! Before she could stop herself, she was asking him-

"James, do you work out?"

James felt a delighted grin spread across his face as he heard her question. She had finally noticed the results of his meticulously planned workout regime, which he had followed for the past nine months. Darn right he worked out!. ….Ahem, no need to sound conceited though.

"Yeah, kind of. I play Quidditch right." _I don't just play Quidditch! I breathe, eat and sleep Quidditch too. I'm a frikkin' legendary seeker!_

"Hmm, yeah that explains."

"I'm hoping to be Quidditch captain this year."

"Hoping? I'm pretty sure there's no competition James. You're the best seeker Hogwarts has ever seen."

I grinned in response. _Like I didn't know that!_

"Don't get all cocky though, you're also the most arrogant one."

"Some call it arrogance, I call it confidence."

"I'm sure you do. Hexing Bulstrode last term because you overheard him saying Finnigan caught the Quaffle so easily only because he needed some balls, really displays your level of confidence."

"I was displaying team spirit!" _No, seriously, I was_.

"Of course you were."

"You're not all that perfect yourself you know_." Apart from your flawless skin, entrancing emerald eyes, soft tempting lips, curly red hair and toned-_

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, what about that time you jinxed Trent's hands to his pants because he used a weird pickup line on you?" _You looked bloody sexy when you did that by the way._

"That was one time! And I'll have you know he was being extremely annoying, he asked me if I had a mirror in my pants because he saw himself in them! " said Lily indignantly.

"Whatever, you still jinxed him." I said laughing, to which she replied by elbowing me in the stomach

"Ouch….that tickled."

"Shut up you prat."

* * *

Three hours later, Lily was lying on her bed with a huge smile on her face. Last night had been truly amazing, like fairy tale amazing. He had planned everything out so well, she wouldn't have been able to say no even if she waned to. He must have wanted her really bad if he had put in so much effort and time into planning one night. This confirmed her belief that there was more to him than the popular Quidditch star everyone assumed him to be. Everything this summer had been real, another side of James Potter. She still couldn't stop smiling as she thought of last night. They had flown over the bright lights and the busy roads, oblivious to everything but each other. She loved the way he made her feel, the way he made her smile and laugh. It was so easy to talk to him, to be with him, like breathing. She had grown to enjoy his company this summer, but she had not realized just how much until right now. He really was a pretty amazing person. Finally, when he thought she should be getting home, he had taken her to the top of a beautiful tower.

The view was…..perfect. Stars shining above, bright lights shining all around. So exuberant, yet so quiet and peaceful at the same time, away from the noise but closer to the beauty.

-Flashback-

**LILY POV**

"Lily." He was looking down at me now. His hazel eyes so perfectly focusing their honey gaze on me.

"Yeah."

"Do you like it?" He asked, tilting his head to one side. _So_ cute.

"It's beautiful. I love it."

He sighed, messing his hair with his hand. "How I envy it."

I looked at him uncertainly, not knowing what to say. He smiled.

"Lily, I need you to not interrupt me for exactly 70 seconds, okay? You can say anything you want after that, but until then…. Please, just let me say what I want to."

I nodded, confused, but not exactly clueless either.

"Lily Evans, ever since I first set my eyes on you, I knew you were something special. No one else ever stood up to me the way you did. That day, I admired your bravery and irrepressible urge to fight for what was right. Through the years, we have had our share of differences and fights. More fights than most people, but then slowly, we have become friends and I love how that makes me feel. I know I'm a prat sometimes. I flirt, I'm a womanizer, I drink, I party and act like an idiot in general…..but you need to know that I would never do anything that would hurt you…_ever._ And as for all the mistakes I've done in the past when I was younger, all the times I insulted or hurt you, I'm sorry. I really am. It's just…..I never thought much about the consequences of all the stuff I did. I still don't sometimes, but I think I'm getting better at it. It's mostly because of you. You've seen the difference in sixth year. Remus was the one who finally got some sense into me. He made me realize I'd lose my only chance of ever getting together with you, if I continued to act like the prat that I was. Now, I've started naturally resisting the urge to do something reckless or stupid, because each time I think of you. You make me a better person Lily, that's why I like you so much and that's why I need you." He sighed.

"So, now I'm asking you sincerely with all my heart, go out with me Evans?"

She had been so touched. She realized how he made her happy, how he made everything look so easy. Her heart said she liked him, whether she wanted to admit it or not. She knew one thing though; she didn't want to have regrets. Not about something this important. Not when he could be the right one for her. So she was going to take her chances and leave the rest to destiny.

"Yes."

His face had lit up completely.

Laying on her bed now she thought of how life had changed since she first came to Hogwarts. If you had told her that one day she would be dating her arch enemy, she would have called you crazy and asked you to visit St Mungo's. She chuckled. She had truly hated his guts, not to mention his annoying tendency to keep messing his hair. Weird, how she now liked those very habits the most. In the end, she had truly fallen for James Potter.

* * *

**A/N: So did you like it? I know it was kind of cheesy n stuff….but c'mon! They're finally going to go out=p 10 reviews again? Luv you guys:)**** Btw just a heads up, I'm changing the rating to 'M'. Please review!**

**xoxo**

**Bbm94**


	7. Sleepover Part 1

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been ages since I updated, but I had this weird block where i was able to write everything except this chapter. But here it is finally! Thanks to - happy4sookie, Kaighla, Opiniated1234, samira parsa, AliLuvsAlli-Sirius, RachelDJack, isigirl and HalfBloodPotter93 for reviewing :D**

7.

"Lily you have a visitor!" yelled Petunia, as she ripped the sheets of her sister.

'Tuny!" shrieked Lily as she felt her bare legs being exposed to the air.

"Learn some manners, it's past noon already. Wash up and get down now, moms orders."

Lily glared at her sister till she rolled her eyes and strolled out. She cursed under her breath as she dragged herself through the usual routine. She pulled her hair into a side braid, not even bothering to comb it. Happy as she was right now, she was shit sleepy. Who the hell had come to see her this early in the morning? What was with people, didn't they know she needed her sleep? She yawned as she made her way down the stairs into the kitchen. _Damn_. Jake was seated with a piece of toast merrily chatting away with her mother.

He raised his eyebrows as she entered. "Morning sleepy."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "You could have told me you were coming."

"I did try to, but apparently you were too busy with your new friends."

"Jake's been telling me a little bit about these boys, Sirius and James and the marauders. I hear they're very popular and seem to do some very interesting things at school." Said her mother, a hint of disapproval in her voice.

"Mother, you've seen them a dozen times and you liked them. They're really decent guys." she sighed.

"Yes, I do. I didn't say anything about not liking them. But I've only heard about them from you, and you seemed to have conveniently leaved out a lot."

"Agreed they were probably a tad immature when they were younger. But they were kids then, not seventeen year olds. Plus Remus is a prefect."

"Yes I know your friend Remus. He was very polite whenever I met him. And although I like Sirius and James too, I'm just saying I never knew the things that Jake has been telling me."

"Right. And Jakes is the perfect source for their personal bio data, because? He barely knows them. Ask Anya if you like."

Deciding not to let them test her patience, she stalked off to get some cereal. _Merlin, she could strangle Jake with her bare hands right now. What the fuck was his problem anyway? Such a jackass. She would have to talk to Anya about this._

"So Lils you free today?" asked Jake nonchalantly, following her into the lawn.

"I don't see how that concerns you." She glowered back.

"I was thinking three of us should hang out today-"

"Yeah sure, in an alternate universe!"

"Jeez woman, no need to get so worked up."

"Jake, you _barge_ into my house early in the morning, ruin my sleep, bitch about my friends to my mom and then ask me to spend the last day of summer, with you!"

Jake stared at her slightly bemused. Suddenly he frowned, a crease appearing in between his eyebrows.

"So….they're your best friends now?" he asked in a slightly strange voice.

"Yeah. So what?"

"You really think they're your _friends_ Lily? You barely know them." He spat out.

"We've been in the same house for six years now." She replied coolly.

"And you've hated him all along."

"Things change. People change….feelings change."

"Lily… he is popular, a talented Quidditch player, extremely good looking according to a zillion females and he has more friends than you could count. You're just another acquaintance to him, another cloud that's just going to pass by. When are you going to see that the only reason he wants you is because he never could?"

Lily stared at him appalled. Did he really think she was so stupid that she wouldn't have known if someone was just using her? And he was basically telling her that she wasn't good enough to be friends with someone as popular and gifted as James. Who the hell did he think he was?

"Jake, just because you're too lame for people to like you, doesn't mean we all are. Now do me a favor and just get lost."

* * *

Mrs. Evans was clearing away the table when she heard the telephone ring.

"HELLO! IS THIS THE EVANS HOUSEHOLD?"

"Erm…yes it is. Who is this?"

"MRS. EVANS." Said the voice with relief, "THIS IS JAMES POTTER, CAN U HEAR ME?"

"Hello James. Yes there is no need to shout, I can hear you perfectly well." She laughed.

"Amazing this Felly-tone muggles use, simply fascinating! Can I talk to Lily please?"

"Yes hold on, she's in the front yard, I'll get her."

"Lily! James is on the line!"

Lily frowned slightly confused as she heard her mother. James knew how to use a telephone? She hurried into the house.

"Hello?"

"Lily!" said an excited voice, "This is so cool, and I can actually talk to you!"

"James! How did you manage to call me?" said Lily surprised.

"Well I wondered how I could get my mother to talk to yours without sending an owl or scaring her, and then it hit me! The little boxes with buttons that muggles use! Of course I had a lot of help from Sirius, but here I am." He said enthusiastically.

"Why does your mother have to talk to mine?" asked Lily confused.

"Hold on, my mom wants to talk."

"Umm….ok."

"Hello is this Lily?" , she heard a gentle but firm voice.

"Hi Mrs. Potter. Nice to talk to you." She said timidly. She was _so _going to kill James later.

"Same here Lily." Said the voice kindly, "Can I speak with your mother please?"

"Sure. Just a second."

* * *

Lily ran to open the front door as the bell rang. She looked at James and smiled shaking her head. He had the most adorable look in his eyes as he grinned back at her.

"How did u manage to convince your mom? Not to mention make her convince mine!"

He shrugged smirking slightly "I know how to get what I want."

"More like because you have a responsible chaperone" said Sirius popping up.

Lily only just realized he was there too. James cocked his head to one side, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

"Hey Padfoot" she smiled, "So what exactly are your responsibilities tonight?"

"Lils, Mrs. Potter has entrusted me with the impossible task of keeping an eye on you and little impulsive James here."

Lily raised her eyebrows at him

"Lily, pre-marital sex should never be taken so lightly."

"Sirius!"

"Yes? I'm only following Mrs. Potter's orders you know."

To his surprise, Lily grinned mischievously.

"Well you said it all yourself. It's an impossible task isn't it?" She winked.

James stared at Lily fondly, grinning appreciatively, while Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"We'll see about that." He muttered, making his way in.

* * *

They were now in Lily's room. Having put away there bags near her bed, they were looking around interestedly.

"So, what shall we do?" Smiled James, looking at Lily.

"I'm fine with anything."

James raised his eyebrows suggestively "Anything huh?"

This earned him a kick from his new girlfriend. She obviously still hadn't learnt to appreciate his sense of humor.

"Well we're going to sneak out of course, once your parents are asleep. But until then we'll have to figure out something to do."

"Let's play a game then." Said Sirius, as he plopped down on Lily's lavender colored bedspread.

"Sure." Said Lily, as they joined Sirius on the bed, making a circle.

"So, truth or dare?" he smirked looking at Lily.

"Umm…..truth."

"Wrong choice." Muttered James, shaking his head ruefully.

Sirius grinned his eyes sparkling. "Is it true what I overheard Anya discussing with Zara? That you have recently acquired a tattoo in a certain special place?"

"I did get a tattoo towards the end of last term. But since I have no idea where they said I got it, I can neither confirm nor deny that part." She replied blushing.

Sirius whooped. "So where did you get the tattoo then?"

"You already asked your question and I answered it. You get only one question! And if you must know, we were all very drunk. And they did much worse than me."

"I don't think any of them got a tattoo anywhere near where you got yours though." Teased Sirius.

"Oh shut up. My turn now. James, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Kiss Sirius."

"WHAT? NO WAY!" They shouted together.

Lily burst out laughing. "Why not? Afraid you might realize your true feelings for each other?"

"I get that you want to punish Padfoot, but why use me for it?" pouted James.

"Lily! That is not a very nice way to get back at someone!" whined Sirius.

She found herself clutching her stomach as she took in their almost anguished expressions. Aaah this was going to be fun. Not to mention weirdly satisfying. They were always annoying her, it was time she teased them back as well. Plus if she was being truthful, if they had been gay they would have _so_ made the perfect couple.

She snorted as she remembered what Anya had once said about hot guys turning out to be gay. They would definitely have to pick her up first thing tonight. She smiled to herself as she looked at Sirius and James again.

* * *

**A/N : OK, so I know this chapter sort of...sucked. But i really couldn't help it. The next one is better I promise! And i'm sure reviews would inspire me even more ;) **

**Important: I will be changing my pen name from_ blueberrymuffin94_ to '_xoCinnamonGirl_'. Please tell anyone else you know who might be reading my stories. I don't want to lose any readers because of the change. See you guys soon! :)**


	8. Sleepover Part 2

**A/N: Thanks to AliLuvsAlli-Sirius, isigirl, RachelDJAck, TWHATT18, black16lily, Feu-Et-Glace, DarlingILoveYou and Jacki James Criss Potter for reviewing :D**

**Also a few readers pointed out that James was a chaser and not a seeker. I know JKR said he was a chaser but in my mind I always picture James as a seeker (because of his undeniable skill with the snitch and also because Harry got his Quidditch skills from his father) and Lily as a chaser, so I guess it's OOC, but that's the way I write them in my stories :)**

8.

**(Songs for the chapter- 'Animal' by Neon Trees and 'Let me take you there' by Plain White T's.)**

A few lone stars twinkled in the black sky as they watched a young witch and wizard standing silently behind a great oak tree. They would have been almost completely hidden in the vast darkness of the night if it weren't for the silky moonlight glowing faintly upon them. The air was still, apart from a slight breeze on the warm summer night. The thick branches of the oak spread across the backyard, some of them reaching into a wide window above.

Perched on one of the larger branches, was a tall boy with long, black hair. His grey eyes were focused as his muscled arms tried to pry open the window in vain. He cursed not being able to use magic in a muggle area and resorted to lightly knocking on the window.

* * *

James struggled to keep himself from constantly gazing at Lily as they stood under the tree in Anya's backyard. He had promised Sirius as well as himself that he would take it slow with her, make sure he didn't scare her off. After all, he was going to marry her someday and…._Damn. _He was doing it again. His hand instinctively jumped to his hair as he realized Lily would probably run that very second if she realized how intense his feelings for her actually were. But really, he wasn't very much in control of his emotions right now. She just looked so _bloody_ beautiful with her red curls dancing on her bare shoulders, the hair sticking in some places to her slightly damp forehead. Her neck arched upwards as her green eyes studied Sirius' progress. He was going to take it slow as he promised, yeah; but hell, she was finally his girlfriend!

"What?" whispered Lily as she felt James nudge her gently.

"Shh…" he said as he turned her so they were facing each other.

He lightly placed his hands on the tip of her shoulders and then slowly ran his fingers over her sides till her waist, feeling the subtle curves of her petite body through the thin spaghetti strap halter top she had worn with a black skirt. His gaze didn't waver at her slightly confused look.

"You're beautiful." He stated simply.

She blushed as his hands pressed at the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. For a moment, they just stood still, leaning in, taking in each other's scent. Her breath hitched as he placed his lips near her ear, nuzzling it. He traced the path of her jaw line, his lips lightly brushing her skin, before placing a soft kiss on her lips. Before she could react or even kiss him back, he pulled back, smiling at her.

She was about to forgo all dignity and ask him why he stopped when she heard a ruffling noise above them followed by a muffled shriek and an impressive amount of swearing. Apparently Sirius had finally succeeded in waking a very sleepy and considerably surprised Anya.

* * *

Sirius smirked at Anya as she jumped to grab her bathrobe (after the shrieking and swearing of course) from the couch beside her bed. She was blushing furiously, and glaring at him.

_Wow. She looked so cute with her sleepy eyes and mussed up silky dark brown locks._

"Nice to see you?" he tried.

She narrowed her eyes.

_Okay. Really, it wasn't his fault she slept in lacy undergarments. It wasn't a walk in the park for him either to control his…erm, well it wasn't exactly easy for him to see her like that! _

"I am so going to kill Lily. Have you guys ever heard of such things called telephones that are thankfully present in muggle houses? You could've at least sent me an owl or something!"

"Well we didn't see the point when we were going to come pick you up anyway." Said Sirius defensively.

Anya sighed and rolled her eyes as she walked towards her closet for clothes. His eyes followed her interestedly as she pulled out a grey t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Stop doing that." She snapped, still annoyed at being awakened so unceremoniously.

"Doing what?"

"I can actually feel you staring so stop."

He grinned and settled into the couch as she went into the bathroom to change. Her room was covered in shades of purple and yellow. One of the walls was completely covered in different pictures of her with her friends. Lily, Trista, Zara, Michael, Jake, and there were also quite a few pictures of him and James from the last two months.

"So where are we going?" she asked, now pulling her hair into a pony tail.

"I think you're going to like it."

"Well that means we're not going to some crazy party with obnoxious people at least." She said more cheerfully.

"Yup. Now let's go." He said as he motioned her to follow him.

"I can't believe we're going to be on the Hogwarts Express day after tomorrow."

Sirius nodded in agreement as they climbed down the branches.

That's why they were going to make this a memorable night. It was going to be their last summer night as teenagers still in school. The night that marked the end of a truly amazing summer which had caused them to grow close, as they had never imagined before. They did not know what destiny lay in store for them, what trials awaited their relationships. But they had friendship and love right now and they were happy with that.

* * *

James yelled at the top of his lungs as he ducked once again beneath his bed.

"Dammit. Sirius have you seen my book?"

"Nope." said Sirius in a bored voice.

"MOM! Have you seen my charms book anywhere?"

"James! how many times have I told you not to yell like that? And you can hardly blame your books for disappearing when you're extremely careless as usual." Chided a beautiful lady with striking black eyes as she entered the room.

She must have easily been above fifty years old, yet her smooth, glowing skin and lustrous hair gave her the looks of a much younger woman. It was obvious from the affectionate look on her face and the constant twinkle in her eyes that she absolutely adored her son.

"Have you checked in your father's study?"

"Right! I left it in there last week! Thanks mom." Said James as he hugged her before bouncing away again.

James returned after a few minutes successfully holding his lost book. Looking at his buddy lost in deep thought, he walked to him with an amused expression. It was quite funny to see Sirius whipped. He wasn't even dating her yet, but James had observed enough the night before the last, to know that Sirius and Anya were going to be something special, once they finally got around to being in a relationship that is.

"Padfoot?"

"Hmm." He replied distantly.

His thoughts were far away from James. They were at one of the most fulfilling and amazing nights of his life. He hadn't ever imagined that any of his best nights would include anything but sex with girls or trips with the marauders. But then she had come along, and just by being there in the summer she had made it so…..wonderful. And they had spent most of the night laying down on the grass at the top of a cliff and talking, taking in the beauty along with Lily and James.

**-Flashback-**

Anya giggled as Sirius made a face at Lily and James who were sitting a few feet away from them under a tree, facing the other way. The seemed to be cuddling, hugging, kissing and trying to stare into each other's eyes at the same time, which Sirius happened to find quite amusing.

"Hasn't even been a week and he's already whipped. They're actually making gooey eyes at each other! Although only in the two seconds between their kisses of course. Come to think of it, he was whipped way before they even started going out" He smirked.

"I guess they look a little funny right now. But I think they look just…right together. Like they've just been stupid, and not to mention _adamantly_ blind all these years."

"Oi Prongs!" Called out Sirius.

"What?" Replied an annoyed James extracting himself from Lily and pulling her onto his lap.

Lily blushed as James wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin near the side of her neck, almost nuzzling her hair.

"That." Replied Sirius, smirking again.

"Go away Padfoot." Muttered James, now busy kissing Lily's cheeks and making his way up to her ear.

"Jeez get a room!" said Sirius as he motioned Anya to get up so they could go elsewhere and give the happy couple some much needed privacy.

James' only reply was a muffled grunt as they started kissing again, rolling behind a bush.

Sirius gently put his arms around Anya as they walked along; they're bare feet dancing on the soft grass in the night light. He pulled her toward a large tree and started climbing it, pulling her up as well.

When they reached one of the sturdier higher branches he stopped so they could sit on it, huddled against each other. A tender smile touched Sirius' lips as he watched Anya gaze quietly at the stars. Her large brown eyes looked so gentle as they reflected the star light. He thought of how pretty she looked when she blinked and her eyelashes brushed against her skin. Her soft, glowing face with those pink full lips. How come he had never noticed how beautiful she was before?

He shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts as she turned towards him.

"Sirius, what's your favorite time of the day?"

"I dunno. I'm usually not a morning person, so evening or night I guess."

"Why?"

"Well, my mind….it's somehow freer in the night. Like a gush of wind blows through it, clearing away unnecessary thoughts like fallen leaves. I like that feeling. I also tend to think less, but I've yet to discover whether that's good or bad."

"I love the night, I love the dark. The quiet, the loneliness and the endlessness." She said thoughtfully.

"Why would you like that?"

"Because it helps me think. It helps me be with myself and center. And that's something I need." She said simply.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while.

"Anya, what's your favorite thing?"

She thought for a moment. "Butterflies." She answered.

He laughed. "Reason?"

"They're so free and beautiful it makes me happy to look at them." She smiled.

"That is true."

"What's yours?"

"Quidditch."

"How predictable." She smirked.

"What?" He said defensively, "Quidditch is eternally awesome. Beats butterflies any day."

"Yeah right." She scoffed, "Here's the awesome game Quidditch, where players prove their mettle by trying to shoot stuff through three giant holes. Such a lovely original concept."

Sirius gaped at her. Even after all these months he spent with her, sometimes she still caught him off guard with her statements.

"Perv." He accused.

"Look whose talking. And I was just stating my observations."

"Quidditch is one of the best things ever because the game itself requires certain skill, concentration and determination such that you have to forget about everything else when your playing. The feeling of the wind blowing through your hair as you soar into the sky on a broomstick, the feeling of exhilaration when you score a goal, or shoot stuff through holes as you so colorfully put it." He said pointedly.

She grinned sheepishly.

"And most of all, when you win and the crowd is cheering as your team nearly suffocates you with the group hug, you know at that moment that it was worth every minute of effort you put in. It's a wonderful feeling knowing you've achieved something because of your efforts. You look around at your team, think of how synchronized you've become, how all of you are part of something together. You might be sweaty and tired, but that huge smile that won't leave your face and the happiness is all that counts. What's more, it's time for a Gryffindor party."

She smiled as his face lit up.

"You can't wait to get back to Hogwarts and its Quidditch pitch, can you?"

"Just one more day and the marauders will be back where they belong."

"Can't wait. I always look forward to the trouble they cause." She said sarcastically.

"Oh c'mon, you have to admit despite everything, Hogwarts would be quite boring without us."

"I guess." Laughed Anya.

"And that's what matters." Said Sirius triumphantly.

Anya giggled at the smug expression he wore.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at her.

"Never mind."

"What?"

"Well it's just that you look like a proud peacock when you do that."

"Do not!" Pouted Sirius.

"You kinda do."

"Anya Leighton Bones, take that back right now!"

"Or else?' she smirked.

"Or else…..this." he answered.

Anya squealed as Sirius started poking her sides, with his arms around her so she wouldn't fall of the branch.

"Gettof!"

"Not till you take it back."

"Assault!"

"Hardly. Just take it back, and I'll let you free."

"Never!" she gasped.

"Your loss." He laughed as he continued poking Anya, who was practically in his lap now.

"Sirius….I'll…I'll..!"

"Laugh and gasp at me?" he smirked. "How effective."

"Aaargh. Fine I give up, you can stop now!" she managed, struggling to sit upright and breath properly again.

"Sure." He replied sounding pleased.

Anya huffed, blowing a few strands of stray hair out of her eyes, pretending to be annoyed as he chuckled at her.

Suddenly the hands that had been focused on poking her and preventing her from falling off were wrapped around her somehow. His mouth was near her neck and she could feel his soft breath caress her skin there. She moved back a little, turning her head to the right, to see him smiling at her. She couldn't hold back the slight curve of her own lips. She swore it was something in his eyes. The boy had some gentle smirking hypnotic element that made her think they twinkled like the stars and caused her heartbeat to go crazy. But she knew she couldn't trust it, couldn't even trust herself because she got carried away by it. Like a lonely shell on a sandy beach, all it took was just one wave to sweep her far away into the ocean, just one effortless look.

Their faces were so close, their lips almost touching. She thought she saw something in his eyes. Desire, like it was burning. Her eyes widened and she felt her throat go dry as her lips parted of their own accord.

He had probably moved a millimeter towards her when suddenly he closed his eyes shut. She felt his body harden against hers. He stayed like that for what might've been a few seconds but seemed like forever to her. All the while, she stayed glued to her spot, unable to think.

She finally managed to find her trail of thoughts when he exhaled and opened his eyes again. They seemed controlled, guarded.

He gave her a soft smile, like nothing had just happened. Tilting his head, he picked a glossy strand of her hair and felt it between his fingers, before letting go again.

"I think we should get back now."

"Yeah." She nodded, incapable of anything else.

They found Lily and James coming towards them as well and the three quickly said their goodbyes to Anya. When the sun started to rise at the horizon, a glowing red ball breaking the dark of the sky into orange and pink and purple, Anya stepped under the covers of her bed, confused and wondering. She felt different. Weird and jumbled, but in a good way. She found herself wanting, but she found her head saying she had to be cautious. She shook her head, trying to clear all the muddled thoughts. She thought of a sentence she had once heard-

'What will be, will be.'

And sighing she realized it was true, and that helped her find some peace as she snuggled beneath the warm blankets, her mind starting to wander again, but this time it didn't bother her.

**-End Flashback-**

"Helloooo? We have to get going. The marauders have work to take care of remember?" said James waving his hands enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Let's go." Said Sirius, getting up.

* * *

Lily looked out of the window intently as Anya got up and opened the compartment door for the third time. Trista, Zara and Michael seemed to be getting annoyed. Jake had decided to forgo their company to join some other of his friends in their compartment instead.

"Where are they!" she muttered impatiently, shutting it close again.

"I know right!" agreed Lily as she craned her neck again.

It had started to drizzle lightly and the train would take off to Hogwarts in another ten minutes. Unless they had other means of transport (which was highly unlikely) they would have to be nothing short of idiotic to get this late.

Just as Lily was about to go call a teacher to stop the train, the compartment door slid open with a slight bang.

"Hello ladies." Beamed James, looking particularly pleased with himself.

Lily knew that look all too well.

"What did you do?" she said, her voice filled with apprehension.

"We just spent a few minutes tending to a welcome back present to all of Hogwarts. It's in honor of the marauder's last arrival of course." Answered Sirius as he entered, followed by Remus and Peter.

"Here we go again." Muttered Anya, flopping onto her seat.

"Isn't it awesome to be back?" smirked James as they took their respective places for the journey back to school for their last year.

* * *

**A/N: Ok i know this chapter wasn't too long but i made sure it wasn't short either. Plus it has lots of stuff between James and Lily as well as Sirius and Anya ;) I just had to update after watching the seventh movie (which i got to watch on the first day! Eeep!) And i'm guessing most of you would have seen it by now as well :D So leave me a review with your thoughts about the chapter as well as the movie! :) And i will reply with my comments on the movie as well :P**

**Important: I will be changing my pen name from_ blueberrymuffin94_ to '_xoCinnamonGirl_'. Please tell anyone else you know who might be reading my stories. I don't want to lose any readers because of the change. See you guys soon! :)**


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